Anyone have an answer for teeth cleaning? Does everyone, but me, clean teeth weekly or more often? I feel so ignorant. I have not had a dog and have not heard my friends who have dogs talk about cleaning their teeth. Is this more important with Bs?

dogs need their teeth cleaned (and cats too) often. I clean my dog's teeth 2-3 times a week. my cats I do when I can (easier said than done on a cat!). Most people I know don't do it, but end up paying the price later on. needing teeth extractions or vet care for problems. I think a bit of prevention is the best idea. If the teeth are too dirty to start, you can ask your vet to clean them first, then keep up with the maintainance at home on a regular basis.

Personally, I like the enzyme dog toothpastes. it helps even if you just get it IN the mouth. my mom uses a baking soda paste for her dog, but I don't think it's as effective. With the petrodex, my dog LOVES the flavor, and practically does backflips when I get it out. he thinks it's a "treat".

It is very important to keep their teeth cleaned (and ears). I had a poodle mix (that I rescued) which had HORRIBLE breath due to HORRIBLE gum disease. Even after having the vet clean them and extract two teeth and using doggie toothpaste regularly (she loved the flavor), she still had horrible breath… It's important to start early and continue the teeth cleaning throughout their life. The ears are easily wiped out with a damp cloth... just don't get them too wet. My vet recommended a cleansing/drying agent (without alcohol) to use after Hollie's baths.... to prevent bacteria build up and infection in her ears.

Does anyone feed their Basenji BARF? By feeding RMBs (Raw meaty bones) everyday, you can ensure that your dogs teeth and gums are clean and healthy. How? By chewing the bones or say a chicken wing, it not only slows down the digestion enabling your dog to know when he's full but it also natural cleans the teeth with the chewing involved.

(Please note that I am not a qualified vetinarian or the like. These are personal opinions)

Therefore, when feeding your dogs on a BARF diet, I believe that it is not nessasary to brush your dogs teeth unless recommended by your vetinarian. I know of lots of dogs who are hapilly living their lives on a BARF diet with a healthy coat, teeth and gums.

What do you think about this? Please post

They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.

It seems safer to brush a dogs teeth rather than rely on bones (especially chicken bones) to do the work for me. I'm sure that SOME raw diets are a healthy alternative for dogs but there are some other concerns I would have with this as well. What about the thousands of parasites living in raw meat? What about bones lodging in the intestines or slivers of the bones? I've heard a lot of negetive feedback with the raw meaty bone idea. I'd stick to brushing teeth especially if it's just the dental hygeine you're worried about.

What about the thousands of parasites living in raw meat? What about bones lodging in the intestines or slivers of the bones?

Yeh, I've heard loads about this 'theory' of choking on bones and such. In brief, these owners must not be feeding a proper BARF diet (with …RF standing for RAW FOOD)

Dogs love bones because they are designed to eat them. Basically wild dogs would eat small animals whole, like rodents and birds. They would also work as a team to bring down some larger game on occasion, like deer.

Look inside your dogs mouth, way back at the molars. Now, I’m assuming that your pooch is friendly not some Tasmanian devil. Anyhow, if you look close, you will see that his molars are pointed, not flat like ours. A dog’s molars are designed to crush bone and cut through cartilage. So how can bones be bad?

Dogs only start having trouble eating bones when they are cooked. The reason is that cooking changes the consistency of the bone, meat and cartilage. Cooked bones tend to splinter and cause choking problems. The cooked meat and cartilage is tender and can be eaten with little effort. The raw meat and bones take some serious effort to crunch and chew up. This works out your dogs jaws, helps clean his teeth and reduces the risk of choking.

As for raw veggies, wild dogs would get theirs from the stomach contents of the animals they consumed. I also think they got them from the droppings of herbivores. I have heard many accounts of owners dogs relishing horse manure, and they eat it with gusto! Of course, in addition, they will scavenge around and eat carrion (dead animals). I know it’s gross but we’ve all seen this before (maybe we just didn’t recognize it). Depending on where you live, your dog’s favorite pastime may be tearing up a "yummy" bag of garbage; technically speaking, scavenging.

Also, about germs (salmonella) please take a look at this link: http://www.njboxers.com/Question.htm
to see that salmonella is present in processed food too.
(yeh, it scared me when I saw that!:eek: )

Well, I hope that helps with your questions. But I do agree with your saying that some diets can be good. I have found a lot of sites that talk of absolute rubbish when it comes to BARF. Which shows you that you can't rely on the internet…

Emma

They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.

I was discussing this with my mom..my B's grandmother..haha..and well she mentioned that giving a dog a raw bone with uncooked meat on it might turn them sort of mad..I don't know if there's any truth to this but I have heard that pple training fighting dogs also feed them raw meat to give them the taste and have them crave the blood..yeah it does sound kind of like an old wives tale but I don't want to take any chances with my B..any truth/false to this?..I do have to admit it dosen't sound right to me

I'm with you, I just don't like the idea either. I might be missing something but my B's teeth (with minimal cleaning, about once a week or every other week), coat and health seem to be in tip top condition. Even though it might work for some, it doesn't work for all. I've read too many stories of problems with even raw bones for dogs. I'd be all for a raw diet that was a little more domesticated (ground meat and bones) but it just scares me a little to just 'throw a dog a bone'.